Ministry Statements and Speeches 2010

Third Committee: First informal consultation on the Human Rights Council Review

Opening statement by H.E. Ambassador Jim McLay, 1 December 2010

We thank you for holding the first open-ended informal plenary meeting to discuss the scope of the review of the status of the Human Rights Council. We also thank you for the provision of the non-paper provided by the co-facilitators to assist our discussions.

We welcome the President of the Human Rights Council (Mr Sihasak Phuangketkeow) to New York and are grateful that he is able to attend today’s meeting. We commend again the President’s role in bringing together the different regional groups and building the basis for consensus.

New Zealand expectation of the review is that it should to improve the Council’s ability to promote and protect human rights. In particular, we see value in those proposals that would:

improve the action-oriented nature of the Council’s work, allowing for follow-up, where necessary, and enhanced coordination with other branches of the UN system, including the Third Committee, and also with specialised agencies;

provide for a more balanced, transparent, predictable and streamlined programme of work; and

enhance the universality of the UPR, and make better use of the work of Special Procedures.

We regard the input of other Council stakeholders, including national human rights institutions and civil society, as integral to the review process, as it is to the Council’s work in general. We are pleased to see that members of civil society are present at today’s meeting.

Human rights constitute one of the three fundamental pillars on which the UN was founded, and mainstreaming human rights throughout the UN system is at the heart of the Council’s mandate. New Zealand is hopeful that the positive work that has taken place this year will continue, and that the review of the Council will move it further towards the objectives for which it was established.

We look forward to continuing to do all we can to support the review of this important body.